Kidnapped

Jack felt like an idiot that he was so easily snuck up on and gagged, forced to watch as Merton and his men grabbed Brielle and knocked her out. As one of Merton's men shoved her back in the carriage and took over the reigns, Merton turned his attention back to Jack. He put a blade under Jack's chin to tilt his head up, the tip threatening to cut through his throat. He then removed Jack's gag.

"You know, the girl makes sense to me," Merton said. "You, on the other hand, don't. Some random boarding school child that got caught up in this, but it seems there are search parties out for you as well. So why are you important?"

"I'm not," Jack grumbled. "It's a formality."

"So what's going to stop me from cutting a new smile for you?"

"Nothing," Jack snapped. "Like my parents, who you also killed for no reason."

"Your parents," Merton repeated with an amused grin. "That's cute."

"My mother was killed in cold blood for no reason."

"She's probably lucky we didn't do worse to her."

Jack felt the rage bubbling up in his chest and tried to kick Merton, but he was being held back by two of the men. Merton scoffed and hit him in the head with the butt of his dagger, then kneed him in the stomach. Jack winced and crumpled to the floor, and Merton lifted his head up by his hair.

"You're right," he said. "You're not important. I only need the girl."

Jack felt cold steel plunge into his gut, and it took a few moments for him to register that he had been stabbed. His vision blurred, and he saw the carriage disappear with Brielle.

Jack wasn't sure how long he was unconscious, but when he woke up he saw Hugo over him. He was doing something to Jack and there was a tightness around his midsection, along with the searing pain of the stab wound. He noticed Hugo was covered in blood and looked exhausted.

"You're bleeding," Jack said hoarsely.

"No, it's your blood," Hugo corrected. "It took a lot to stop the bleeding but I think this makeshift bandage will last long enough to get you to a doctor."

"We have to get Brielle," Jack said.

He sat up a little too quickly and nearly passed out again.

"Hey, stop it," Hugo said. "I just stopped you from dying and now you're putting yourself back under."

"We have to get Brielle," Jack repeated.

"There's search parties out for her," Hugo said. "Also, you're married to a duchess?"

"We're not married," Jack said, exasperated. "I mean, we're together. Kind of. I was friends with her brother before I was friends with her. And then more. It's complicated, I'll tell you later. I just know we have to go now. There's no time for the search parties to find her."

"But-"

"I'm doing it with or without you."

Hugo cursed under his breath, then reluctantly helped Jack to his feet. He wobbled, but the adrenaline was so intense that he wasn't feeling too weak from the wound. Hugo managed to flag down another carriage coming down the road and offered the people inside some money to let Jack ride with the driver.

Jack hopped on and they managed to get them to Gableglen in under an hour, which was relief. Then again, it only took a second to kill someone. Hugo was worried about Jack bleeding out, but Jack only had Brielle on his mind.

"Do you have a knife?" Jack asked him as they got off the carriage.

"Yeah, but-"

"Give it to me."

Hugo pursed his lips and gave Jack the dagger, who slid it onto his belt.

"I'm going alone," Jack said. "You already got hurt because of me."

"You'll die," Hugo warned him.

"I'm dying anyways," Jack insisted. "Please just keep a lookout for me. I promise I'll make it up to you."

"Not if you're dead."

Jack ignored him, ducking into the shadowy alleys. Gableglen was fairly small and everyone was in hiding with Merton around. Jack was the only one crazy enough to go looking for him, so it didn't take much effort to find the house with the mill outside of it.

There was one man standing guard outside the door, which Jack managed to knock out of the way fairly quickly when he snuck up behind him and dragged him away. He had no idea what the hell he was doing when he all but burst into the house, finding Brielle tied to a chair with Merton and two others hovering over her menacingly. She seemed relieved to see him, until she saw the blood on his shirt. Merton just seemed annoyed.

"You're alive," he said dully. "Boys, fix that please."

One of the men approached Jack, but they didn't seem to expect that Jack would pull a knife so quickly and plunge it into his chest. The other one was caught off guard, but shoved Jack back. Jack hit a shelf with some glass jars sitting on it, and they shattered when they hit the floor. When the smell hit the air, Jack realized they were some kind of cleaning supplies. Jack dodged out of the way when the man tried to grab him again, then took one of the jars and splashed it in the direction of Merton and the thug. They staggered back, disgusted by the oily, smelly substance.

Jack took the opportunity to cut Brielle's ties on her wrists and she quickly got up. She looked briefly at Jack's wound, then at Merton as he trudged towards them.

"What are you doing?" she asked frantically.

"No fucking idea," Jack said.

He grabbed Brielle's hand, then knocked an oil lamp off a table and onto the damp floor. They were blasted by a wave of heat as the room burst into flame. So did Merton and his thug. Jack and Brielle took off running out of the house, but Merton managed to pat out the flames enough to chase them. The burn wounds slowed him down, but he managed to grab Jack and yank him back.

Jack winced when he felt a tug on his stab wound and the bleeding started again. Merton looked infuriated and reached for his knife, and without thinking, Jack headbutted him.

"Fuck, you should've been killed with your stupid mother."

Merton lunged at Jack again, and he quickly pulled the knife out again. Miraculously, he managed to stab it through Merton's throat. It was horrifying, but Jack somehow felt satisfied by Merton gurgling and crumpling to the ground. Jack fell weakly to his knees as well, holding pressure on his own wound. Brielle made a scared, choked sound and hurried over to him.

"Hugo is here," Jack told her. "I told him to keep a lookout a street over. Go find him, he can help you get home."

"I'll get you help," she said.

"I'm bleeding out," Jack told her. "Just go find Hugo and get home before someone else tries to kill you."

She let out a frustrated scowl and kissed Jack. He watched her leave, but he was pretty sure she didn't intend on leaving him behind. He didn't stay awake long enough to see what she planned on doing.